Asobi Seksu

Asobi Seksu recently released their third studio album, Hush. The band is comprised of Yuki Chikudate (lead vocals, keyboard) and James Hanna (vocals, guitar). Asobi Seksu hails from New York City and although there are only two permanent members, the band plays with a number of supporting musicians. Their name is derived from the Japanese phrase meaning " casual or fun sex". Asobi plays a reinvented form of shoegaze often called, "nu-gaze", and drawing heavily from dream pop and noise pop styles. Their sound is also heavily reminiscent of pre-cursors like My Bloody Valentine and Cocteau Twins. Other bands to attract the "nu-gaze" label include M83, Maps, Van She and Longwave. The re-invented shoegaze incorporates electronic dance elements and ambient noises into the typical heavy guitar distortion and effects laden sound of normal shoegaze. In fact the "shoegaze" moniker was coined by critics who noticed the musicians in these bands remained very static, often simply staring at their pedal boards the entire time. Asobi Seksu released their first studio album, Asobi Seksu, in 2004. One of the most popular songs off their eponymous debut album is, Walk On the Moon. Their second album, Citrus, came out in 2006 and featured their biggest hit, Thursday, as well as the single, New Years. Their latest ablum, Hush, was released in February of 2009 and featured the single Me & Mary.